Key legal question
Whether the respondent's Swiss registration of GMAIL was a bad-faith defensive mark because he lacked a genuine intent to use it.
Extracted holding
The lower court applied incorrect criteria. Actual or sham use, and other surrounding circumstances, may be relevant to proving a lack of genuine intent to use; the matter must be reassessed on evidence.
Extracted reasoning
A registered mark is unprotectable if filed not for use but to block others or gain improper advantage. The grace period under Art. 12 MSchG does not bar considering evidence of no real intent to use when bad faith is alleged.